In Hawaii, Roy Choi Is Confronted With Sad, Mutated Version Of The Tacos He Popularized

In the latest issue of Food & Wine Magazine, Jonathan Gold thought it was a great idea to take Korean taco innovator and LA chef Roy Choi on an eating tour of Hawaii, and for the most part we’d agree — both for the article itself, and for the food. (The author of this article, in particular, has a profound weakness for Spam musubi and can probably be bribed with it. Just sayin’.)

But there’s one thing that happens at the end of the article, after all the delicious huli huli chicken and shaved ice, that’s just plain cruel on Gold’s behalf:

I make Choi drive back to Shogunai Tacos, the Asian truck we’d seen earlier. The Japanese taco, wrapped in a flour tortilla, isn’t completely horrible—the fistful of braised pork and crumbles of nori make it taste a bit like yakisoba, rendered in taco form—but the Korean taco is dreadful, seasoned with rank kimchi and clumps of orange cheese. Choi’s face contorts.

“You’re kind of responsible for this, dude,” I say.

“I probably am,” he says. “And I’m not sure what to think.”

See what you have done to the world, Roy Choi?! See how the common people hath seized your creation and diluted it to its most base form; how your vision can be warped and insulted in kimchi? Look on your works, ye baller, and despair.